The Best Day
by Hope Grace
Summary: Belle has "one of those days". But, who knows how to cure it? (A short one chapter fic.)


[Quick Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. I only wish they did. This is a song fic... sort of. You should be able to figure out what song inspired it before you get to the end, but if not... you'll see when you get there. Hope you enjoy... Please review and send feedback. Be constructive...but nice.]  
  
The Best Day...  
  
Belle opened her eyes when she felt the cool breeze touch her face. Five minutes ago she was having a picnic under a gazebo in the park, and now she was siting in a small wooden kayak surrounded by raging waters. She searched around hoping to find an oar so she could row herself safely back to shore. The boat was empty aside from a jar of green jelly beans. She looked all around her in every direction trying to find someone who would help her. She finally spotted two figures on the edge of the water. They were surrounded by fog, so Belle had to squint to make them out. It was Brady and Chloe, only Brady was dressed in a Superman costume and Chloe was dressed in green hospital scrubs. They were holding hands and staring blankly at her.  
  
Belle screamed out, desperate for help. "BRADY! CHLOE! HELP ME! HEEEEELP! I NEED YOUR HELP!"  
  
Brady & Chloe shook their heads mournfully and spoke in unison, "No, Isabella. You took the goat cheese. We can't help you any more."  
  
Belle heard the water behind her rage louder, and as she turned, her kayak dropped down an enormous waterfall. She screamed at the top of her lungs, knowing that if she hit the bottom she would surely die. All of a sudden, she felt a pair of strong arms grasp her and pull her away from danger. She opened her eyes and looked up into the brown eyes of Shawn Brady. She sighed in relief, "Shawn... you saved me..."  
  
Shawn grinned, "Well... I knew this hot air balloon would come in handy eventually..."  
  
Belle threw him a confused glance, "Huh...?"  
  
Shawn smiled at her and took her in his arms, "Shhhh... you're safe now, Belle. You're safe with me." He leaned forward and was just about to press lips to hers, when....  
  
"WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? WHO! WHO! WHO! WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?"  
  
Belle sat straight up in bed and knocked her clock radio to the floor beside the bed. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes, and groaned in frustration. "Bahhhhhhhhh... figures.", she muttered to herself. She rolled the rest of the way out of bed and headed to her bathroom to get her self together. She noticed her clock on the floor and realized that she had slept 30 minutes later than she was supposed to. "Great.... guess I'll have to forego the hairdryer and half of my beauty routine today... fun."  
  
She quickly showered, brushed her hair, and put a very minimal amount of makeup on. She grabbed a clean change of clothes out of her closet, hoping it would be just clean and acceptable enough to volunteer at the hospital for the day. She had no time for a fashion crisis, but ever since they had started allowing the candystripers to wear street clothes and nametags only, she had to at least make sure she looked somewhat presentable.  
  
Belle ran downstairs, praying that somebody had made some coffee this morning. She'd do anything for a caffeine boost on a morning like this. She reached the kitchen where she found her older brother devouring a bowl of Frosted Flakes. "Good morning, Brady..."   
  
She noticed that there was still coffee in the pot, and thought her prayers had been answered. Until she grabbed the pot and realized it was old and icy cold. Belle's jaw dropped in shock. "IT'S COLD... AHHH! This.... this... SUCKS."  
  
Brady looked up from his cereal and nodded in sympathy. "Yeah. Dad made it this morning, but he and Marlena both left early. So, I think it's been sitting there for 2 hours."  
  
Belle sighed and frowned at the coffee pot. "Well, I'll just have to drink it cold then. I don't have time to heat it up." Belled poured some into a cup and took a large swig. "Blehhhhhhhhh. This tastes like....yuuuuck."  
  
Brady grinned at her. "Awww, come on Belle. It's like one of those iced mocha frappacino half-caf double tall latte thingy-ma-bob's that you always get at Dot.Com"  
  
Belle smirked and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, Brady. It's *just* like it... only TERRIBLE. Echhh. I guess it's better than nothing though." Belle grimaced and took another quick swig before putting the cup in the sink.  
  
"Hey Belle... you might want to grab an umbrella." He held up the newspaper in front of her and pointed at the forecast. "They say there's a mighty good chance of rain today."  
  
Belle sighed deeply, "I can't... I left my umbrella at Shawn's house a week ago and keep forgetting to get it from him. This is going to be such a woooonderful day, I can tell already. I should've stayed in bed."  
  
Brady stood up and put his cereal bowl in the dishwasher. "Well, Belle... it's not going to be *all* bad. You wonderful brother is going to drive you to the hospital this morning."  
  
Belle sighed in relief, "Oh Brady. Thank you so much."  
  
Brady shrugged his shoulders, "Well... It's not like I have anything else to do..."  
  
Belle gave her brother a slight smile and the two headed downstairs to Brady's van. As she was getting into the van, Belle looked up at the sky, and could see that the newspaper was predicting correctly. The sky was gray and filled with clouds, not a bit of blue sky or a even a glimpse of the sun could be seen all over Salem.  
  
Belle climbed in, and Brady began the drive to the hospital. Belle reached into her backpack hoping that she would find her nametag here, and she hadn't left it in the jeans she wore yesterday. She dug deeper and found a picture that Shawn had given her last night when she was at his house. She chuckled softly to herself and smiled when she saw it.   
  
Brady took a quick glance in her direction, "What is it?"  
  
"Oh... Last night at Shawn's, his mom found this picture in an old photo album and gave it to me. Remember when I had my 8th birthday party?"  
  
Brady laughed, "Remember? How could I forget? That was when you and Shawn got in that fight with the cake icing... Marlena tried so hard to be mad at you for making such a mess, but she couldn't because you two looked so adorable all dolled up in birthday cake."  
  
Brady rested at a red light, and Belle showed him the picture. An 8 year old Shawn and Belle had their arms wrapped around each other and were smiling widely at the camera. Only, you could just barely tell it was Shawn and Belle. Their faces were literally covered in the white icing, and you could only see Belle's big blue eyes and Shawn's chocolate brown eyes peeking out behind the mess.   
  
Belle laughed out loud. "Oh geez. The look on mom's face... well, it's something I will never forget."  
  
Brady nodded and laughed with her. Belle slipped the picture back into her bag just as the light was turning green again. "Anyway... I was going to hang it on the wall with my other pictures last night, but I just forgot to get it out." Belle thought to herself, But, I'm glad I forgot. Just seeing this picture made this day not as bad as it was before. Thoughts of Shawn Brady are always happy thoughts. She dug a bit deeper into her backpack and finally dug out her blue and white nametag and pinned it to her shirt.   
  
Brady and Belle remained mostly silent the rest of the way to the hospital. Brady was concentrating on the road, and Belle seemed lost in thought. He dropped her off at the front doors, and she quickly thanked him for the ride and ran inside just in the nick of time. She was about 45 seconds away from being late.  
  
Belle breathed a sigh of relief as she signed in for the day on time, and thought to herself, Okay, I got off to a bad start, but it just has to get better.   
  
***  
  
Three hours later, she knew she had been wrong. About a half hour into her shift, her head had begun to pound. She went into the lounge and took a few aspirin. Aspirin which had promised to start working in less than an hour. No more would she believe the lies of pharmaceutical companies. Not only had the aspirin failed to work, but the pain in her head had increased tenfold.  
  
She walked over to the nearest nurse's station and leaned against the counter. Every now and then the pain would make her pause and close her eyes. She sat there in darkness for a moment until a voice in front of her disturbed her. "Belle? Are you okay?"  
  
Belle fluttered her eyes open and saw Dr. Wesley standing in front of her, "Dr. Wesley... Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a headache all morning... Probably because I didn't really eat breakfast, that's all."  
  
Dr. Wesley looked concerned. "Are you sure you're alright? If you need to go home early..."  
  
Belle shook her head and smiled weakly, "No, no... I'll be fine. I'm just gonna go and get a drink of water. Thank you though..."  
  
Craig smiled back at her, "You're welcome, Belle. Remember, if you don't think you'll be able to make it to the end of the day, just find me or Nurse Brenda and we'll let you go home... okay?"  
  
Belle nodded and watched him go. She stepped into the lounge and got a cup of water from the cooler. She emptied the cup and threw it into the trash by the door. As she was about to go back in the hallway, the lounge phone rang and she ran to pick it up.   
  
"Uhm... second floor lounge? Hello?"  
  
"Oh good, it's you."  
  
Belle smiled at the sound of his voice. "Shawn? How did you know I'd be in here?"  
  
"I called the nurse's station, and she transferred me here. The nurse at the desk said she saw you go in the lounge. So, here I am... What's up? How's your day going?"  
  
"Better now, actually. Much better. So, this is unexpected. Nice though. Why the surprise phone call?" Belle absently twirled the phone cord between her fingers.  
  
"Welllll... I just wanted to see if you were busy tonight. You know, maybe we could hang out or something."  
  
"Hmm. I had planned to come home, fall asleep and pretend that this day didn't happen. I've got a headache bigger than this entire building. But, your idea sounds a lot better."  
  
"Geez. That bad huh?"  
  
"Mmm. Yeah. Could be worse though..."  
  
"So, what time are you leaving?"  
  
"I'll be outta here at 4:00. I think I'll take the bus home. Don't wanna walk, and my mom has to be here for a meeting so she's not leaving until 6 tonight.. Anyway, you can come to my house at like, 5 o'clock, okay?"  
  
"Okay... I'll see you there. Hope you feel better, Belle."  
  
"Thanks, Shawn. Bye."  
  
"Bye"  
  
She heard the line go dead on Shawn's end, and she still held the phone to her ear. It was amazing how 2 minutes on the phone with him could make such a difference. Her head was still aching, but the rest of her felt warm and happy. She smiled to herself and placed the phone back on the hook. For every bad or mildly irritating moment in her 16 years, Shawn had been there. And, he always made it feel better. Just one smile from Shawn, or the sound of his voice made all her other problems feel insignificant.  
  
She smiled to herself and made her way back into the hospital hallway.  
  
***  
  
Around 3 o'clock...  
  
Belle had finished her rounds in the children's ward for the day and had decided to take another rest at the nurse's station. She massaged her forehead with one hand, hoping she could magically make the pain disappear. She had felt a bit better after eating a quick sandwich in the cafeteria, but that faded about an hour ago. Now, the headache was back in full force, and showed no signs of fading. She took in a deep breath and moved her hand away from her face when she saw Nurse Brenda heading towards her.  
  
"Belle... Dr. Wesley told me you haven't been feeling well today. Why don't you go home a little early? You're all finished her, just go home and rest up..."  
  
Belle nodded and smiled weakly, "Thank you... so much. Maybe I can catch the 3 o'clock bus so I can get home quicker."  
  
Brenda smiled and waved her off, "Take care, Belle."  
  
Belle hurried into the lounge and grabbed her backpack. She ran to the bus stop, but arrived too late. The bus was already halfway down the block and Belle knew there was no way she could catch it. She plopped herself down on the bench with a groan just as the sky above her opened up and began to rain. Belle threw her hands up in frustration and began to yell at the top of her lungs, "WHAT THE HECK? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS DAY? BAHH!" She sighed deeply, then looked around her to make sure that nobody was around to hear her sudden and embarrassing outburst.  
  
She stood up and trudged down the sidewalk to head home. All the while she prayed that nothing more could go wrong... like being hit by lightning or something. Yeah, wouldn't that just be the cherry on top of my sundae. She thought.  
  
***  
  
Shawn stood outside the door to the Black penthouse. He was beginning to get worried about Belle, the hospital had told him she left early, and he hoped that she hadn't been in an accident or something terrible like that. He tried to dial her cell phone again, but she must have left it turned off by mistake. Just as he was placing the phone in his back pocket, he saw her step off of the elevator. She stood there staring at him, dripping from head to toe. Not an inch of her was dry, and she was shivering slightly.  
  
He stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her trying to warm her up. "Belle... you're freezing to death."  
  
Belle looked up and nodded weakly. Even in this state, Shawn couldn't but think about how beautiful she looked. Even soaking wet, with her hair and makeup in a mess, she was still perfect. Some of her blonde hair was matted and stuck to her face, Shawn reached his hand up and stroked it away gently. She smiled at him, and whispered in a weak voice. "Shawn... You're here."  
  
"Yup. I was going to pick you up at the hospital, but when I called they said you left early. So, I came here to meet you. What happened to you?"  
  
Belle sighed, "Missed the bus. It rained a lot. I walked home."  
  
"Well, let's get inside. You need to dry off before you get sick or something."  
  
Belle took her keys out of her pocket and began to unlock the door. She muttered under her breath, "Geez... now you sound like my mom..."  
  
Shawn followed her inside and grinned, "Well, I'm just concerned. There's nothing wrong with that. Now, stand right here and I'll go get you some towels." He turned around and rushed off to the bathroom.  
  
Belle did as told, she was too tired to even think about moving. Shawn dashed back into the room only moments later carrying 2 big white fluffy towels. He wrapped one around her shoulders and handed her the other one to pat herself dry. She quickly patted her hair and the rest of her, but still shivered as she did it. Shawn stopped her efforts and impulsively wrapped her in his arms. He tried to share his warmth with her to stop her shivering, and she leaned into his embrace and sighed.  
  
"So... how's your headache?"  
  
Belle just leaned her head into his chest. "Don't even notice it's there right now."  
  
Shawn stroked her hair gently and soothingly. "Well, that's a pretty good cure you must have."  
  
Belle lifted her head and looked up at him, "Not my cure. Yours."  
  
Shawn looked perplexed, "Mine? How's that?"  
  
Belle paused and then looked at him seriously, "Shawn. I guess I realized something today. So, just hear me out and don't go running for the hills when I tell you."  
  
Shawn smiled at her, "Of course not. You know I'm always here for you."  
  
Belle nodded and continued, "I know. And that's part of what I have to say. I mean, Shawn… you may not have noticed it. But, I've had these... uhm, feelings for you lately. Like, feelings that you and I are more than just friends... Do you know what I'm mean?"  
  
Shawn grinned in embarrassment and felt his face start to blush, "Actually. I think I know exactly what you mean... I guess I... well, I think I feel the same too."  
  
"Well, it's not just that Shawn. It's... Well, I realized that no matter what kind of a bad day I've had, or what kind of terrible thing that has happened to me. The one thing that has always made me feel better is... you. Today was a bad day, Shawn. A terrible day. But, whenever I thought of you... I didn't even notice it. You turned a bad day into a great day... And, you've always been able to do that for me. Nobody else can do that. Just you."  
  
Shawn placed his hand on her cheek and leaned in close and placed his lips on hers. Their first kiss was even better than he could have wished it would be. Despite the fact that her body was freezing, Belle's lips were warm and soft and gentle. She was perfect to him, and he couldn't imagine any thing that would feel as good as this. Nothing in the world would ever compare to this moment right now.  
  
Belle broke the kiss off when she heard footsteps in the hallway outside. She looked up into Shawn's eyes and whispered, "Thank you..."  
  
"For the kiss?"  
  
Belle grinned at him, "Well... that was good too. But, I meant... Thank you for being everything that you are, Shawn Brady."  
  
Shawn now heard the keys turning in the lock and leaned against the back of the couch. "No... thank you Belle..."   
  
The two shared a brief smile with each other and turned to face Brady as he walked through the door. He shut the door behind him and as he clanked his soaking wet sister up and down, he grinned evilly and asked, "Soooo, Belle... How was *your* day?"  
  
Belle looked briefly at Shawn, then looked back at her brother, smiled widely and said just one word.  
  
"Perfect."  
  
  
The End.   
  
  
By the way, I came up with this fic while listening to my Dido CD. For the record, I could probably write 10 different stories just from listening to that CD... Sheesh. Oh, and if you think Belle's dream was a bit... odd. Welcome to my life. I have ones that are ten times stranger than that every night. Honestly.  
  
The song that inspired it all follows:  
  
Thank You  
By D. Armstrong & P. Herman  
  
My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all   
The morning rain clouds up my window and I can't see at all   
And even if I could it'd all be gray, but your picture on my wall   
It reminds me that it's not so bad, it's not so bad   
  
I drank too much last night, got bills to pay, my head just feels in pain   
I missed the bus and there'll be hell today, I'm late for work again   
And even if I'm there, they'll all imply that I might not last the day   
And then you call me and it's not so bad, it's not so bad and   
  
I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life   
Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life   
  
Push the door I'm home at last and I'm soaking through and through   
Then you handed me a towel and all I see is you   
And even if my house falls down now, I wouldn't have a clue   
Because you're near me and   
  
I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life   
Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life.  



End file.
